5 Kickass Anime Dads

When it comes to anime, there are actually a lot of absentee fathers or fathers that died before their kids grew up. Many of these Japanese stories start out with anime dads that are not very good parents or never having been there at all for their kids. Skirting right around those failures, here’s a list of 5 of the best anime dads.

Image source: Studio Ghibli

My Neighbor Totoro’s Tatsuo Kusakabe

Tatsuo is a great example of a supportive and caring anime dad. In the Miyazaki anime, My Neighbor Totoro, he embraces his daughters imagination and doesn’t deny the possibility of Totoro being real. Tatsuo encourages his daughters to believe in the impossible or improbable. When their mother, Satsuki, is in the hospital Tatsuo is there for his kids while also caring for his ailing wife. He is a great example of a supportive dad that is always there for his kids.

Image source: Studio Pierrot

Bleach’s Isshin Kurosaki

Isshin is the father of Ichigo, the hero of the Bleach anime. After Ichigo’s mother’s death, Isshin is a single father that both cares about his kids and sees the value in not taking life too seriously. He’s the best example of a goofy dad. Isshin would also often challenge his son with random attacks to make him a stronger and better fighter. He’s is probably the life of the party that would make you roll your eyes if you were his kid. Isshin is the dad that embarrasses you with dumb perverse jokes, but also pushes you to achieve greatness.

Image source: Viz Media & Shueisha

Death Note’s Soichiro Yagami

Soichiro is a great example of a father and police officer. When everything starts to kick off in the Death Note anime and people start dying, Soichiro refuses to believe his son could be guilty of the crimes. He is often torn between his duties as a detective and his responsibilities as a father. Thankfully when Soichiro dies trying to rescue his daughter, he at least goes out still thinking his son is innocent.

Image source: Viz Media & Pierrot

Naruto’s Minato Namikaze

Just like the “best anime moms” list from not too long ago, the parents of Naruto are pretty much the gold standard of parents that gave up everything for the good of their child. He had to grow up without them, but they left him a powerful example to follow in the footsteps of. Without their sacrifice, there would no manga or anime series based on the life of Naruto. It is a sad story, but they are one of the few examples of a parental unit that worked well together and remained united. They both did their best to protect their son from the beast within.

Image source: Funimation & Kodansha

Fairy Tail’s Igneel

Do you ever wish your dad was a dragon? Igneel the fire dragon was the foster father to Natsu Dragneel. He was a loving and protective anime dad despite not being the birth father, and being a dragon. Before Natsu, Igneel cared little for humans at all. It was fathering the boy that taught him to care at all for human kind. Igneel learns from his adopted son and Natsu learns from his father. It’s the type of unusual and out of the ordinary loving relationship that can only occur in anime.

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